As a former Austinite, I'm quite fond of Mexican and Tex-Mex food. During my seven-year sojourn in New York, I found that there was good Mexican food, but one had to travel far from where we lived to get it--a few places on the lower East side, Centrico, and Taco Chulo in Williamsburg. And in NYC, good Mexican food can be surprisingly expensive. I learned to make my own salsa (using Wheatsville Food Co-op's Salsa Casera recipe) and my own tortilla soup like Austin's Kerbey Lane Cafe. In London, most of the Mexican we've had was utterly forgettable--though Mestizo's south of Camden Town is a delightful exception to that rule.
Recently my wife and I experienced quite possibly the worst Mexican food in London, possibly the worst restaurant in London. We were initially excited to see a Mexican Restaurant near us in Ealing--Chico Mexico. So we went. The menu is peculiar--they offer Cajun lamb among other things--I've spent time in Louisiana and never saw it on the menu there. The music was the same four songs over and over--one of them the dreaded Macarena. They initially brought us an appetizer we didn't order--feta and olives--in addition to our ordered appetizer. Then after we had eaten a few olives and a little feta, they whisked it away and took it to the people who ordered it. I inquired whether the chimichanga could be ordered without onions, and the waitress informed me that they were made that morning (it was about 8:30 pm. at this point), and that it was impossible to unmake them. My mango margarita tasted as though it were mango Snapple tea with no tequila in it. My wife's lime margarita tasted like gatorade mixed with a little third rate tequila. My enchiladas were delivered with french fries (???) which tasted like they had been fried in oil which was well overdue for a changing. My beloved could not eat her fajitas. They could use some serious help, Gordon Ramsey or another of his ilk.
I hope the poor Londoners don't mistake that for real Mexican food. Here in NC we have a high population of Mexican immigrants, and thus we have a Mexican restaurant on almost every corner. Admittedly, most of it's your typical Tex-Mex mix, dishes toned down to satisfy the bland Southerner "the only proper way to serve a vegetable is to boil the life out of it" palate. But occasionally we get a little authenticity thrown in. I'm a big fan of Chile relleno, while the husband loves soupa de polo (or sometimes called caldo de polo.)
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